Welt supporting device



Oct. 27, 1936. C PEPIN WELT SUPPORTIN G-DE VICE Filed Feb. 19, 1934 2Sheets-Sheet 1 A I W A I is;

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Oct. 27, 1935. c, H, PEPHQ 2,058,499

'WELI SUPPdRTING DEVICE Filed Feb. 19, 1954' 2 Sheets-Shee't 2 66. 8"-

oooooo ooooooau Patented Oct. 27, 1936 UNITED STATES WELT SUPPORTINGDEVICE Charles H. Pepin, Beverly, Mass., assignor to United ShoeMachinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J., a corporation of New JerseyApplication February 19,. 1934, Serial No. 711,895

3 Claims.

This invention relates to welt supporting devices, and is hereinillustrated as embodied in a device of the portable type adapted to beapplied to a welt shoe to support the welt against pressure applied toit through an outsole while the sole is being attached to the shoe bythe cement process.

A welt supporting device of this type normally comprises a sectionalframe arranged to surround the shoe and having a tapered inner edgearranged to enter the welt crease of the shoe while the device lies uponand covers the top face of the welt. In order to have sufficientstrength and stiffness the welt supporting members must be so wide thatthey project beyond the edge of the welt and prevent the operator fromseeing it, so that proper positioning of the shoe in accurate registerwith a sole upon the pressure pad in the sole attaching machine isdifficult.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved weltsupporting device which will be easy to apply to a shoe and willfacilitate accurate registering of the shoe and outsole.

With this object in view, an important feature of the invention consistsin the provision of sole positioning gages upon a portable weltsupporting frame, said gages being so constructed and so related to ashoe embraced by the frame that they can function, almost automatically,to position an outsole correctly relatively to the shoe ahdpreserve thecorrect relation while the sole and shoe are subjected to attachingpressure, Without in any way interfering with manipulation of the Workin the attaching machine.

Invention is also to be recognized in an improved form of weltsupporting unit which will support the welt of a shoe around theforepart and preferably along the outside of the shank portion, whileleaving the shank portion of the Welt along at least the inside of theshoe unsupported and access thereto unobstructed so that it may be bentor pressed toward the shoe upper to produce the close edge effect whichis desired at that place.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will be betterunderstood and appreciated from reading the following detailed description of one good embodiment thereof, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which Fig. l is a perspective view of the welt-supportingdevice, as seen from below;

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the device clasped upon a shoe;

Fig. 3 is a view in cross-section showing the device clasped upon ashoe, an outsole registered with the shoe and the assembly positionedupon the pressure pad of a sole attaching machine: and

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are views of details of the soleregistering gages.

Referring now to the drawings, the improved welt supporting devicecomprises a frame including a pair of plates I0, l2 hinged together by apivot l4 at their toe ends and cut out along their adjacent edges l6, I8to afford an opening conforming to the forepart of a shoe. The inneredges of the plates, surrounding the opening, are tapered, as shown at20, to adapt them to enter the welt crease of a shoe, as illustrated inFigs. 2 and 3, wherein 22 indicates the upper and 24 the welt of a shoeupon a last 26. The usual insole and bottom filler of the shoe areindicated, respectively, by 28 and 30.

The welt supporting frame is adapted to be placed around the shoe and tobe drawn tightly into the welt crease thereof by hand, a self actinglocking device functioning automatically to prevent expansion of theframe from any point to which it is contracted upon the shoe. In theillustrated embodiment of the invention, this locking device consists ofa dog 32 pivoted at 34 to the heel end of one of the plates I0, I 2 andhaving a hook 36 arranged for locking engagement with any one of a rowof ratchet teeth 38 upon the heel end of the other plate. A spring 40tends at all times to engage the hook 36 with the teeth 38, which latterare inclined in a direction to permit the frame to be closed freelyabout the shoe but automatically to prevent the frame from expandingunless the hook 36 is purposely released. This release is easilyaccomplished by pressing upon the tail end of the locking dog 32.Pivotally mounted upon the respective plates l0, l2 are pairs of soleedge gages 42, 44, the pivots being shown at 46 and 48. The sole edgeengaging faces of the gages are longitudinally corrugated, as shown at50, in order to provide good gripping surfaces for engaging the sole.

The gages 44 are normally stationary relatively to the plate l2 uponwhich they are mounted but are adjustable about their pivots 48. To thisend there is formed in each gage a slot 52 in which fits a pin 54eccentrically mounted upon a short vertical shaft 56 to which is aflixeda knurled knob 58 having a hub 60 surrounded by a compressed spring 62.The shaft 56 also has an enlarged frusto-conical portion 64 arranged tofit a correspondingly shaped hole in the plate l2. The fit of theseconically shaped parts is such that when the element 64 is drawn upwardinto the conical hole, as it normally is by the spring 62, the shaft 56will be frictionally held against rotation and the adjustment of thegage about its pivot will be preserved.

When it is desired to change the adjustment of the gage the knob 58 isdepressed sufficiently to loosen the element 65 whereupon the shaft 56may easily be turned, the eccentric pin 34 causing the gage to beadjusted to the desired position. When the knob is released, the springautomatically reseats the conical element 64, locking the gage inadjusted position.

Upon the opposite plate l asi'milar pair of pivoted gages 62 arearranged to bear yieldingly against the outer edge of the shoe sole,which is designated by 86. upwardly turned lug 68, as shown in Figs. 2and 4, and the ends of a torsion spring 10, which is mounted upon afixed stud 12, bear against these lugs in a manner tending to press themoutward and the sole edge engaging portions of the gages inward, so thatthe opposite edge of the sole 66 against which they bear will bepositioned accurately against the fixed gages 44.

The heel ends of the plates l0, l2 are'continued inward as shown at Mand are arranged to lie, beneath the heelend of the shoe, their forwardedges being beveled at 16 to permit the pressure pad [8 of the soleattaching machine 80 (see Fig. 3) to'conform easily to the surfacepresented to it.

'As shown, the shape of the opening defined by the inner edges of theplates l0, l2 conforms to the forepart of the shoe and to the shankportion along the outside'of the shoe so that the welt 24 is supportedcontinuously at these places. Along the inside of the shank portion ofthe shoe, however, the edge of the plate l2 departs from the welt creaseof the shoe, as is apparent at 82 inFig. 2, leaving. this portion of thewelt free and unobstructed to receive pressure from the pad 18 to bendor press the welt and inner shank portion of the outsole toward the shoeupper in order to secure the close edge effect which is desired at thatplace.

In the use of the illustrated apparatus, the

'locking dog 32 is'released and the plates l0, I2

are separated by relative movement about the pivot [4. The frame is thenapplied by hand to a welted shoe, the tapered edges 20 of the platesbeing introduced into the welt crease of the shoe Each of these gages 42has an and the frame squeezed together by hand until it fits the shoeclosely and supports the top face of the welt smoothly. The dog 32automatically locks the frame and holds it securely in the position inwhich it has been clasped upon the shoe. A cemented outsole is nextpositioned against the stationary gages 46, which have previously beenadjusted to cause the sole to be registered accurately with the shoe,and is held against the said gages by the spring-pressed gages 52bearing against its opposite edge. rugated faces 50 of the gages, thesole will be By reason of the corheld'suiiiciently secure to prevent itfrom dropping oif, and the whole assembly can be readily picked up andplaced upon the pad 78 of the sole attaching machine, where it may bemoved about and positioned as desired without danger of disturbing theaccuracy of register between the outsole and the shoe.

It will be noted that the whole apparatus is light and easily handledand that, while it serves its various purposes admirably, it does notinterfere in any way with the operation of the sole attaching machineupon the shoe.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to besecured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A portable welt support comprising a pair of plates cut out alongtheir adjacent edges to afford an opening conforming to the forepart ofa shoe, said plates having tapered edges adapted to enter the weltcrease of the shoe, a normally fixed sole positioning gage carried byone of said plates, and a yielding sole positioning gage carried by theother of said plates.

.2. A welt supporting unit comprising a frame arranged to surround ashoe, the inner edge of said frame being shaped to enter and occupy theWelt crease of the shoe around the forepart thereof and to leave thewelt unsupported and access thereto unobstructed along at least one sideof the shank portion of the shoe.

3. A welt supporting unit comprising a frame arranged to surround ashoe, the inner edge of said frame being shaped to enter and occupy thewelt crease of the shoe around the forepart and along the outside of theshank portion thereof and to leave the welt unsupported and accessthereto unobstructed along the inside of the shank portion of the shoe.

CHARLES H. PEPIN.

